Supreme Court case information

Listed below are the substantive Supreme Court cases for the year along with appeals still to be determined or cases awaiting hearing. 

Information giving an overview of the case is included along with media releases and links to judgments being appealed when available.

All 2024 - 2014 Supreme Court cases dismissed or deemed to be dismissed where a notice of abandonment was received can be found here.

Transcripts for cases heard before the Supreme Court are included provided they are not suppressed. Transcripts from pre-trial hearings are not published until the final disposition of trial. These are unedited transcripts and they are not a formal record of the Court’s proceedings. The Ministry of Justice does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any material and recommends that users exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use.

28 November 2025

Case information summary 2025 (as at 28 November 2025) –  Cases where leave granted (PDF, 87 KB)
Case information summary 2025 (as at 28 November 2025)  – Cases where leave to appeal decision not yet made (PDF, 120 KB)

All years

Case name
JPC  v The Queen
Case number
SC 28/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Misuse of Drugs Act 1975 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the offence for controlled drug analogues is sufficiently certain to found a safe prosecution – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in finding that the Trial Judge’s directions were correct – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in regard to the mens rea requirements for the offence – Whether the Court of Appeal was correct in relation to the defences available to the applicants – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that the question whether a substance is a controlled drug analogue is one for the jury.[2016] NZCA 48  CA 145/2015 
Result

A Leave to appeal against conviction is granted to all applicants (JPC v R [2016] NZCA 48) (Ellen France P, Wild and Miller JJ).
B Subject to order C below, the approved question is whether the Court of Appeal should have allowed the applicants’ appeal against conviction.
C In relation to JPC's application for leave to appeal against conviction, the approved question is qualified so as to exclude his contention that the verdicts on one charge on which he was acquitted and another on which he was convicted were inconsistent.
D JPC’s application for leave to appeal against sentence is dismissed.

14 July 2016

_____________________

Judgment released                                                                                              

Order prohibiting publication of the judgment and any part of the proceedings (including the result) in news media or on the internet or other publicly available database until final dispositon of related trials of Appellants C (SC 23/2016) and L (SC 24/2016). Publication in Law Report or Law Digest permitted. 

19 June 2017                            
Leave judgment

not publicly available
Judgment appealed from

[2016] NZCA 48  CA 145/2015 not available
Case name
KHW  v The Queen
Case number
SC 30/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in declining the application for an extension of time to appeal against the applicant’ s sentence on the basis that any causal contribution of early dementia to the applicant’s offending was not substantial. [2016] NZCA 33   CA13/2015
Result
Notice of abandonment lodged, the application is deemed to be dismissed. 
10 June 2016
Judgment appealed from

W (CA315/2015) v R [2016] NZCA 33     29 February 2016
Case name
BM v The Queen
Case number
SC 31/2016
Summary
Criminal appeal – Crimes Act 1961, s 195 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding the sentence was not manifestly excessive.[2016] NZCA 53  CA 599/2015
Result
The Application for leave to appeal is dismissed.                       20 June 2016                                                                                                            __
High Court decision
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
M(SC 31/2016) v R [2016] NZSC 72     20 June 2016 (PDF, 81 KB)
Judgment appealed from

M (CA559/2015) v R [2016] NZCA 53   9 March 2016
Case name
Cecilia Victoria Uhrle v The Queen
Case number
SC 38/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Evidence Act 2006, s 66(2) – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing the applicant’s appeal against conviction – Whether the trial Judge’s direction to the jury incorrectly conflated foresight and intention in terms of common purpose liability under s 66(2).   [2015] NZCA 412   CA265/2013
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
13 June 2016.
High Court decision
R v Uhrle [2013] NZHC 922  30 April 2013
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
CECILIA VICTORIA UHRLE v R [2016] NZSC 64    13 June 2016 (PDF, 74 KB)
Judgment appealed from

UHRLE & ORS v R [2015] NZCA 412    4 September 2015
Case name
Wayne James Bracken v The Queen
Case number
SC 40/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the trial Judge’s directions were adequate – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in concluding that the trial was not unfair.  [2016] NZCA 79   CA785/2012
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.                        
13 September 2016
High Court decision
R V BRACKEN HC WHA CRI 2011-027-000666   23 November 2012
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
WAYNE JAMES BRACKEN v R [2016] NZSC 124    13 September 2016 (PDF, 95 KB)
Judgment appealed from

BRACKEN v R [2016] NZCA 79    23 March 2016
Case name
Mrinal Sardana  v The Queen
Case number
SC 41/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Appeal against conviction and sentence – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that the jury’s verdict was not unreasonable – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding no risk that outcome of trial was affected by error – Whether Court of Appeal erred in finding that the sentence was not manifestly excessive. [2016] NZCA 138   CA508/2015
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
1 November 2016
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MRINAL SARDANA v R [2016] NZSC 142    1 November 2016 (PDF, 66 KB)
Judgment appealed from

SARDANA v R [2016] NZCA 138    20 April 2016
Case name
H v The Queen
Case number
SC 49/2016
Summary
Criminal appeal – Whether the trial Judge erred in his directions to the jury with respect to reliability, the standard of proof, representative counts and depictions of victims of sexual violence. [2015] NZCA 124   CA533/2014
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.                        15 August 2016
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
H (SC 49/2016) v R [2016] NZSC 103     15 August 2016 (PDF, 132 KB)
Judgment appealed from

H (CA533/2014) v R [2015] NZCA 124 (Stevens, Asher and Williams JJ) not electronically available __
Case name
Malcolm Raymond Clarke v The Queen
Case number
SC 50/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in dismissing the applicant’s appeal against conviction – Whether the trial Judge ought to have directed the jury that the applicant did not have the burden of proving that the complainant had a motive to lie.                                                [2016] NZCA 91 CA586/2015
Result
The application for leave to appeal is dismissed.
4 July 2016
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
MALCOLM RAYMOND CLARKE v R [2016] NZSC 79  4 July 2016 (PDF, 73 KB)
Judgment appealed from

CLARKE v R [2016] NZCA 91   5 April 2016

Case name
T v The Queen
Case number
SC 52/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Evidence Act 2006, s 30 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its conclusion that exclusion of improperly obtained evidence would be disproportionate to the impropriety. [2016] NZCA 148   CA438/2015
Result
The applications for leave to appeal are dismissed.                  21 June 2016
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
T (SC 52/2016) v R [2016] NZSC 76    21 June 2016 (PDF, 71 KB)
Judgment appealed from

[2016] NZCA 148   CA438/2015 not available
Case name
N v The Queen
Case number
SC 53/2016
Summary
Criminal Appeal – Evidence Act 2006, s 30 – Whether the Court of Appeal erred in its conclusion that exclusion of improperly obtained evidence would be disproportionate to the impropriety. [2016] NZCA 148   CA440/2015
Result
The applications for leave to appeal are dismissed. 21 June 2016
Leave judgment - leave dismissed
T (SC 52/2016) v R [2016] NZSC 76    21 June 2016 (PDF, 71 KB)
Judgment appealed from

[2016] NZCA 148   CA440/2015 not available
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